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Circuit
Swift Distribution

Circuit reviews
Critic Score
Metascore: 36 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
7.5 out of 10
based on 15 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 4 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

MPAA RATING: Not Rated

Starring JM J. Bullock, Jonathan Wade-Drahos, Andre Khabbazi, William Katt, Kiersten Warren, Daniel Kucan, Nancy Allen, and Bruce Vilanch

John is an ex-cop who leaves small-town life and provincial attitudes behind for a new existence in West Hollywood. As he seeks an open, accepting gay life, John is introduced to the fast-paced Circuit Party scene, featuring beautiful people and a tantalizing mixture of sex and drugs. (Circuit, LLC)


GENRE(S): Drama  
WRITTEN BY: Gregory Hinton
Dirk Shafer
 
DIRECTED BY: Dirk Shafer  
RELEASE DATE: DVD: December 10, 2002 
Video: December 10, 2002 
Theatrical: April 26, 2002 
RUNNING TIME: 90 minutes, Color 
ORIGIN: USA 

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

70
Variety Robert Koehler
All-encompassing drama.
Read Full Review
70
Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas
At once a sexy soap opera, at times lurid and bathetic, and also a gritty cautionary tale made by a filmmaker honest enough to have it both ways.
Read Full Review
60
New Times (L.A.) David Ehrenstein
When Circuit is on its game it's very telling and where it's at its best is detailing just how difficult it is for men so hedonistically self-involved to love one another.
50
Chicago Reader Fred Camper
Shafer (himself a former Playgirl centerfold) never quite manages the incisive social critique his story seems to require.
Read Full Review
50
TV Guide Ken Fox
With its thumping soundtrack, absence of body hair and a camera that practically pants over every bulge, curve and crack of the male form, the film is really closer to porn than a serious critique of what's wrong with this increasingly pervasive aspect of gay culture.
Read Full Review
50
San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle
If anyone wants to watch naked men in the shower, naked men doing erotic dancing, naked men in bed and almost-naked men pumping iron, this is the film to see.
Read Full Review
50
Chicago Tribune Loren King
It makes the viewer wonder whether Circuit would have been stronger as a documentary instead of the well-intentioned, overlong, intermittently entertaining but flawed feature that it is.
Read Full Review
50
The New York Times Dana Stevens
There is a real subject here, and it is handled with intelligence and care.
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40
The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin
As slick and attractive as its cast. But the movie gets away from Shafer.
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40
LA Weekly Chuck Wilson
Mostly, Shafer and co-writer Gregory Hinton lack a strong-minded viewpoint, or a sense of humor, about a world in which the DJ has the power to unify, if only for a night, men of godlike beauty and the mortals who worship them.
Read Full Review
38
New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman
The movie's strongest draw is its kitsch value -- along with a wisecracking Bruce Vilanch, the cast includes '80s TV refugees Jm J. Bullock ("Too Close for Comfort") and the Greatest American Hero himself, William Katt.
25
Boston Globe Christopher Muther
Like ''Showgirls'' and ''Glitter,'' the most entertaining moments here are unintentional.
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25
New York Post V.A. Musetto
Dirk Shafer's feature doesn't offer much in terms of plot or acting. But it does have oodles of hunky male bodies. The choice is yours.
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20
Austin Chronicle Marrit Ingman
It's too bad Shafer spent his budget making a fiction feature instead of just shooting a documentary about the scene. So much of the film is melodramatic kitsch, but there's still a movie in here.
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10
Village Voice Dennis Lim
Even from deep in a K-hole, you'd need about 10 seconds to figure out the remaining plot twists in this jaded muscle-queen morality tale.
Read Full Review

What Our Users Said

Vote Now!The average user rating for this movie is 7.5 (out of 10) based on 4 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Jay H. gave it a3:
Not much of a plot here, just a gay excuse to string together a bunch of soft porn and drugs into an pointless story that is not even interesting. Badly directed, the acting is fair at best.

Brad M. gave it a10:
Awesome show, really opend my eyes, if only every gay man should see this movie. Much love.

Edward B. gave it a 10:
One of the best ive seen in the last 10 years...complicated story with many plots but retains freshness throughout. Director and writer along with the actors are to be commended.

Aunt Ralph gave it a 7:
Oh please! My (pant pant) pants!!! Jonathan Wade Drahos lives up to his name as he wades through this movie, never getting much more than skin deep. Oh honey, but what skin it is, and plenty of it too!!! This ain't Jane Eyre, kids, it's more like Derrière!!! Unevenly plotted but beautifully shot, this movie may even give you a hangover. But not from John. From him the worst you could get is termites.

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